


death toll

by SolidStateScouter



Category: Iji
Genre: F/M, Gen, Other, goddamn this is the first Iji fic on ao3, nice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-19
Updated: 2015-06-19
Packaged: 2018-04-05 05:17:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4167372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SolidStateScouter/pseuds/SolidStateScouter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>To the Komato, all those lives were nothing but numbers on a screen.</p>
            </blockquote>





	death toll

"Now the burden is not on your shoulders."

Iosa speaks confidently, without an ounce of doubt. The bloodthirsty cheers of the soldiers below rise all the way to the bridge. Tor does not reply. He stares out the window of the ship, at the blue planet he knew as Origin. 

_There could have been no other outcome._

_This - this is for the greater goal._

He turns on the broadcast and clears his throat. It takes a few moments for the Komato to settle down. "... Soldiers. Today is the day that we have been waiting for. The chance to wipe out the Tasen. The chance to take the victory that has eluded us so long. This is the end of this war, and the end of the Tasen. Our bloodstained history comes to an close here. Suit up, soldiers. These are the final hours of the Tasen. We shall grind them into the dust of time, along with Origin. You know what to do."

The cheers start anew, echoing through the flagship. Iosa nods, from behind Tor. "You've done the right thing. The Tasen will be no more. They will perish with this planet. Every last one of them."

The general does not respond.

All he can think is of the lone human who had sent them the broadcast.

_Forgive me._

The humans will perish alongside their planet. 

It is the only way.

* * *

The reports come back later.

A human, outfitted with Tasen cybernetics and a priceless nanogun, carving a bloody path through the Imperial Army. Troopers, berserkers and assassins alike had fallen to her. Even Asha. The fool wasn't dead, but, after such a blow to his pride, Tor doubts he has any destination but his own grave. They needed her dead. They needed her nanogun. They needed her cybernetics. She was even a bigger threat than the Tasen. They were weak, demoralized, scattered. When the Komato had landed, their leader had already been dead.

It wasn't fair. Ever since Hel Sarie had fallen - Tor remembered it well, a flash of cerulean, and she and her ship were nothing but mist - the Tasen had been fighting a losing battle. They had even deployed annihilators. It was beyond overkill, at this point. It was mindless slaughter. To the Komato, all those lives were nothing but numbers on a screen. Scores to be compared. It was a game, like everything else.

_Ciretako._

At his side, Iosa rolls her eyes at the reports. "Weaklings. Falling to a human, of all things? If that's all they're capable of, they deserved to die here. I'll kill the anomaly myself, Tor, along with the Tasen. Finally. It's taken so long. So, so, long. But finally, I can end this.  _We_ can end this. The Tasen are finished. I'll kill them all, and the anomaly will follow. It will be easy."

"Iosa." 

"What is it, Tor?"

"..." For a moment, he's silent. He doesn't know what he had meant to say. He stares out at the barren wasteland that used to be Origin. "... Be careful. This... anomaly is unlike any foe either of us has faced."

"Tor," Iosa's voice is chiding, "She's no Hel Sarie, as dangerous as she may be. And she will be nothing compared to me. I'm not called Iosa the Invincible for nothing. I will grind her into the dust. She will die with the Tasen, and with the rest of this planet. Such is the price for opposing the Imperial Army."

Tor does not respond.

He merely watches as Iosa slips into her armor and sets out, genocide on her mind.

* * *

"Sir."

"What is it? Has Annihilator Iosa returned?"

"... Well, sir... we aren't picking up any sign of life from her armor. She - she's dead. All signs of life are gone." The world stops. Tor's mouth goes dry, and the world spins around him. "S-sir?"

General Tor stares at nothing. "That - that's impossible. She can't have died. Not to this human anomaly. It's. Simply not possible."

"I'm sorry, sir."

Tor does not respond.

His fist clenches, and warm blood runs through his fingers and falls to the floor.

"Alright. So be it." His voice is hoarse, but stern. "The Tasen are dead. She said so herself. The only thing left on this planet of interest is the anomaly." Who else could have killed her? "Broadcast a new order to the troops. Tell them of Iosa's death. The anomaly is responsible. They will bring her back dead. Is that understood."

"Y-yes, sir."

"Good. In an hour's time, regardless of whether she is dead or not, we will Alpha Strike this planet. Am I understood?"

"Yes, sir. Is... is that all?"

Tor takes a step to the door. "Yes, Kiron. Thank you. I will return later. I need to. Take a moment to gather my thoughts." He closes the channel, and opens the door. It swings open, and he takes a step outside. In the distance, he can see acid rain pounding against the devastated buildings. The sky is orange, lit up by warfare. The city around the Komato's forward base lies in ruins. Tor closes his eyes. "Operation Purge, Log 3."

_I am going to make one thing clear: I have never, and will never let personal emotions interfere with my logbook. The news just reached me that Annihilator Iosa is dead. That is a matter I will not discuss here. Currently, we have just finished routing the Tasen colony, but the only way to truly please the public is Alpha Striking Origin. Taking the final step blowing Tasenkind out of history, out of space and time. The humans are not worth saving either; they have no future left. If my feelings for this planet are to be shaped by the public and Imperial Army, then who am I to object?_

_This is it, and I may finally be ready to end this._

* * *

"Assassin Asha is dead, sir."

"What?"

"His armor ceased transmissions completely. He had ranted about going to face the anomaly one last time before, but. I didn't think he'd actually do it."

Tor laughs. It's a bitter, cold laugh. "So be it."

Iosa was dead, and now Asha.

He was the only one left, now.

* * *

Footsteps tap against the hard granite of the roof. Tor does not look away from the sky, still bright orange with hellfire. "Who's there."

An unfamiliar voice, quiet but strong, rings out through the silence. "Uh, hello, General. My name's Iji, and I'd like to have a word with you." Tor turns around and looks down. A human. Wearing nothing but a ragged shirt and pants. Spattered with sweat, dust, grime and blood. None of it is her own, he realizes. For a moment, Tor is at a loss. Part of him knows who she is, but the other part refuses to accept it.

"What exactly is this? A human walking right into my post, asking to speak with me, in my own language?" The pieces fall together. "Wait, you - you have to be - "

The anomaly's voice cuts him off with righteous anger. "Yeah, I'm the 'human anomaly', or whatever. But there's something very important that I need to - "

"YOU'RE THE SCUM WHO KILLED IOSA!" The anger that he had been carefully holding back for so long explodes, and he levels his gun at the human. The barrel is easily twice her height. One shot is all it should take, and yet this, this  _scum_ had killed her way through Iosa, Asha, and so many others. Of course, like Iosa had said - she was no Hel Sarie. And Tor had turned her to dust with the pull of a trigger.

She holds her hands up in surrender, and Tor pauses. "WAIT! General, please, let me explain - "

The anger comes to him again. "How DARE you come here? How DARE you insult a Komato General and, and - "

The anomaly cuts him off again, with rage as sharp and strong as his own. "I haven't insulted anyone! Everyone who I've tried to talk to has TRIED TO KILL ME! NONE OF YOU WILL LISTEN TO WHAT I HAVE TO SAY!" 

Tor does not respond.

"I'm not here to fight. All I want is a peaceful discussion."

"Oh, of WHAT, may I ask?" Tor growls sarcastically, turning back to stare at the sky.

"W-What do you think? We live here on this planet, and we haven't hurt anyone! All of a sudden, the Tasen came and wasted most of our people, and now you think you can get away with Alpha Striking us, too! I mean - "

Tor laughs bitterly. "Of course we can get away with it. It's the only way to make sure the Tasen are dead."

The anomaly waves her hands angrily. "You know as well as I do that every last Tasen on this planet is dead already. They're good as gone."

"Well... that's correct, but - "

"But WHAT? What do you have against us? If you think the humans don't even matter, that's just STUPID! Same with the Tasen, you killed them because they're not the same as you!" She snaps, and Tor turns to face her again.

"You have no idea what you're talking about, human! What do you hope to accomplish by complaining to me about my people's errors! The Tasen were a lesser form of Komato," he spits, "A society of outcasts and leeches! The Komato's hatred of them grew over the starturns, to the point where High Command was powerless to stop it! The Imperial Army took the law into its own hands."

It goes on, and on.

The anomaly does not cower, does not back down. Tor would admire her resolve, if not for the hatred and anger burning in his gut.

"Enough. Prove to me that I am wrong, prove to me just how strongly you believe your views! In the meantime - enjoy the view." In the sky, the lights of their starships grow as they channel the Alpha Strike. All the force to wipe Origin from the universe, in a single swipe.

"NO! STOP IT!"

"It's too late, human."

Tor jumps into the air. The Eidolon armor comes to him quickly, and easily.

He will end this battle with the pull of a trigger.

Like a spark to the flame.

"Tonight is the end of our bloodstained history!"


End file.
